Greatest Fear
by RavenNM
Summary: An akuma that forces people to live their greatest fears attacks, leaving Ladybug and Chat Noir to face their own. Two-shot reveal fic with some fluff. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

***I have discovered Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir! It shall be mine one day, but it doesn't belong to me... yet.**

Marinette should have expected that something like this would happen. One moment, she and her friends were enjoying a pool party at Nino's place as an early celebration for school was letting out for summer vacation next week. A lot of their classmates had been invited and some, Chloe and Sabrina, had just showed up. Even with the extra people they were all having a great time, although Marinette was being careful to keep a certain secret since Chloe was there. It wasn't her _big_ secret, but the last thing she needed was the blonde to figure it out, expose her, and ruin the rest of the party for her.

Even with all that, she should have known that something would happen. Just as Alya was giving her an encouraging push towards Adrien, screams and an explosion from down the street brought everything to a grinding halt. She, Alya, Adrien and a few others ran to the street for a better look. Luckily, she was still wearing her sundress over her swimsuit. None of them were too surprised to see a young man laughing as he walked down the center of the street. She could tell almost right away that the young man, possibly a child, was possessed by an akuma, the black devil-like costume with red horns, cape and mask were a dead giveaway.

As he began approaching all of them, the people inevitably scattered. Marinette ducked behind a tree as Tikki hovered beside her head. "Don't those things ever take a day off?" She grumbled in annoyance before shaking her head and clearing her thoughts. "The faster we take care of this, the better. Tikki, spots on!"

As she was transforming, Adrian was watching the approaching akuma victim from behind the corner of the garage. Most of his friends had ran back into the house to hide, but a few were still outside, including Alya and Marinette. He knew that the former would have her phone in hand and was probably live streaming or recording what was happening for her Ladyblog. He also knew that his lady would probably be there soon, he had to support her. "Let's do this, Plagg. Claws out!"

Ladybug jumped into the path of the akuma victim a moment before Chat Noir joined her. "You got here pretty quick," she smiled at him, her yo-yo poised to attack or defend at a moment's notice.

"I was just prowling around the neighborhood and I couldn't leave you all by your lonesome, milady." His smile was infectious as he bent at his waist and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She couldn't help but smile back for a moment before turning their attention back to the approaching threat.

"So, you are the famed Ladybug and Chat Noir." The devil crooned as his cape lifted behind him with the breeze. "I, Nightmare, will not be defeated so easily. I won't even waste my breath asking for your Miraculous. I'll simply take them when you have lost all your will to fight."

"Not happening," Ladybug declared confidently as she spun her yo-yo and Chat readied his baton.

"But I am not like the others that came before me." Nightmare stated as he laughed. "For I am the one thing that all humans carry with them. I am that which they try to deny but can never truly defeat. For I am fear itself!"

The air around him seemed to waver and thicken as it gained a red hue, the effect on those caught in the mist was almost immediate, causing others to scream or cry in fear. That was nothing out of the ordinary... except Ladybug and Chat Noir felt their own hands begin to shake in fear.

"Well, that's a little different." Chat said, not completely sure how to block an ability like that.

"No kidding," she agreed as her eyes looked over Nightmare, trying to figure out where his akuma was hiding. "The only places that make sense are the cape or the horns. What do you think?"

His eyes narrowed a moment before the akuma came rushing forward. He was fast, forcing Ladybug and Chat Noir to jump apart. His hands began to glow with the same ominous red mist as he followed Ladybug and swiped at her. Using her yo-yo, she swung herself out of reach and landed beside her partner, but Nightmare wasn't far behind. They barely had time to get out of the way of his second attack, and Chat's foot was knocked out from under him as he pushed Ladybug out of reach. Nightmare's hand made contact with his booted foot just before he pulled away. There was a moment of panic until they realized that nothing had happened.

The two heroes hurried to put some distance between themselves and their opponent as he stopped moving. His eyes closed and a sneer formed on his lips. When they opened, they involuntarily shivered as his eyes glowed red. "I now know your greatest fear, Chat Noir. Let me see if I can make that a reality."

Shaken by what Nightmare had said after he opened his eyes, Ladybug's reaction was slower when he rushed forward. She tried using her yo-yo as a shield, but his speed seemed to make his hand phase right through as he touched her hand. Chat pulled her away to put more distance between them and Nightmare than before as his eyes closed again.

He laughed when they opened this time, smiling coarsely at Ladybug. "How sweet, it will be your nightmare that will make his possible. I should thank you for making it so easy for me."

When he came at them again, they dodged. Keeping just out of reach of the fast akuma was difficult while Ladybug struggled to come up with a plan. Chat noticed this and tried his best to draw the akuma's attention away from her, but it didn't work. Nightmare seemed to be solely focused on Ladybug. He realized a moment too late exactly why, he had been herding her.

Ladybug felt the difference beneath her feet when the concrete became tile. Looking behind her, she flinched and attempted to dive past Nightmare to get behind him. The red mist seemed to surround and the effect hit her directly in the chest as her grip faltered and the yo-yo slipped from her hand. Behind him, all the people from the party had collapsed to their knees. The mist wasn't as powerful towards the edge, but it had an effect on everyone. Some were gripping their heads in their hands while others hugged their stomachs as their bodies shook. Ladybug and Chat Noir seemed to be the only two still standing, and even they were struggling. Especially her since the mist was more like a thick fog surrounding her until he could barely make out her features from where he was.

She made a grab for her yo-yo as soon as she realized it had dropped at the same time Chat rushed at him from behind, but they were no match for Nightmare's speed. Then, with skill that they hadn't expected from anyone but Ladybug, Nightmare flung the yo-yo in Chat's direction. The string tangled around his legs and left arm, making him lose his balance and tip forward.

"Is everyone here? I hope you all enjoy the show, even if this is dedicated to a certain black cat in the audience." Nightmare announced, glaring at Chat as he took a step closer to Ladybug.

The cat in question was struggling to untangle his limbs from the string. He already knew his Cataclysm wouldn't work on the yo-yo. Plagg had told him a long time ago, after finding out that he had tried to use his power on his lady while being controlled, that his power of destruction could not damage the power of creation. So long as she was Ladybug, she was protected. Which was a relief in most cases, but a serious problem at the moment since he couldn't get free.

Nightmare stepped closer to her, the mist encompassing them both until she felt tears trailing down her cheeks and it was hard to breathe. She wanted to step back to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go. Being so close to him, she noticed something she hadn't before. A medallion hanging around his neck, almost obstructed by his cape but the unnatural purple hue of the metal was unmistakable. That was where the akuma was. Now if only she could make her body move, she would snatch the medallion right from his neck and crush it.

"Such a simple fear to exploit." Nightmare crooned as he smiled at her. Then he turned to smile at Chat. "You and your Ladybug may be stronger and braver than most, otherwise neither one of you would even be standing right now. But there are still things that not even you can overcome. For example, your fear of not being able to protect her, and her fear of drowning."

With a hard shove to the chest, Ladybug didn't have a chance to take a breath before her body was under the water. Her limbs thrashed in a panic to try and get to the surface, but she couldn't even tell which way was up.

Chat felt the blood drain from his face as he struggled harder to free himself. He saw the panic in her eyes just before she disappeared from view. The water splashing as she thrashed just beneath the surface. He hadn't known that she was afraid of the water or that she couldn't seem to swim. And she had been shoved into the deep end of the pool. The entire time, Nightmare stood at the edge of the water, watching her before looking back at Chat, and then looking at the water again like an excited child.

Every second that ticked by was agony. The thrashing in the water was a sickening motivator for him since it meant that his lady was still alive and trying to reach the surface. When he felt a tug at the string, he turned and was surprised to see Alya untangling his legs. Panic and fear were evident on her face as well as her tears and her were shaking badly, but she was working quickly as she unwound it over and over again. It sort of made sense to him since other than Ladybug, she was the bravest girl he knew. The second his legs were free, he threw the yo-yo towards Nino and sprinted to the water to dive in... only to smash face first into a red mist barrier that covered the entire surface of the water.

"Nah-ah-ah," Nightmare chuckled as he shook his finger at the hero. "You can't go diving in so quickly. The whole thing means nothing if you still save her." A feral growl bubbled in his throat before he started beating at the barrier with his fists, calling her name as he did. Then the water beneath him became eerily calm.

His body moved on its own as he called out for Cataclysm and slammed his palm down onto the barrier, destroying it instantly it and falling into the water. The chlorine burned his eyes as he swam towards the frighteningly still form of his lady near the bottom of the pool. He wasted no time in hooking an arm around her body and pushing off the bottom. He took greedy gulps of air as they broke the surface before looking around to locate Nightmare. The akuma had fled while he was getting Ladybug, but he didn't care at the moment, he needed to take care of his lady.

Quickly paddling to the side, he was met by Alya and Nino who helped hoist the two out of the water and lay Ladybug on her back. They moved out of the way just as Chat leaned over her and placed his ear beside her nose and mouth. His entire body began to tremble when he realized that she wasn't breathing. Without wasting another second, Chat placed his hands on her chest and began pumping to perform CPR. Ten pumps to the chest followed by two breaths before he pressed his ear to her chest. Nothing.

"No, no, no! Come on!" He begged as he started over again. Ten pumps, two breaths, and then his ear to her chest. When he still heard nothing, he had to force his hands to keep steady as he started the process again. "Don't die on me, milady! Please!"

One, two, three, four, five- cough!

Water bubbled out of Ladybug's mouth and nose as she struggled to breathe. Chat helped her turn onto her side just before she threw up more water and a bit of food while he rubbed her back.

"Ch-chat..." Her voice was weak and trembling as she said his name. It filled him with relief and horror all at once. Relief that he heard her voice again and horror that she sounded so terrified. He gathered her up into his arms to set her in his lap, not caring that people were staring at them. Other than the time she had jumped into Animans mouth when he was in the form a T-rex, this was the closest she had ever come to dying. And that time had she'd had a plan; this time was out of their control. It was only when his Miraculous beeped in warning that he looked away from her face, he only had three spots on his pawprint left.

He knew that he had to go, but there was no way in hell that he was going to leave her behind. His eyes searched out Nino quickly before holding out his hand towards him for her yo-yo. His friend handed it over right away and he shoved it in his pocket before gathering Ladybug into his arms and standing up. She looped her arms around his neck, her hold was weak but he could tell that she was holding on as tight as she could at that moment.

"Did anyone see what direction he went?" Chat called out as he pulled his baton from his back.

"He went towards the Louvre," Alya told him, her phone still in her hand but not position to record them.

Chat gave her a nod as he ran in that direction, extending his baton to vault him to a roof. He kept a tight grip on the girl that was still trembling in his arms as he continued to run. When his ring beeped again, he barely had time to find a secluded roof to stop. He sat with his back to a chimney as he turned Ladybug so that she faced away from him while still holding her against his chest and his arms wrapped around her.

"Chat, your-"

"I know, my time's almost up, I've got some cheese in my pocket for my kwami. But there's no way I'm leaving you, not after what just happened." He said before he grabbed her yo-yo and handed it to her, then his arms wrapped tightly around her again. "I don't care if you know who I am or not, but this way you won't see me unless you turn your head to look."

A second later, his miraculous gave a final beep and a flash of green light signaled the end of his transformation. Ladybug turned her head forward before she saw anything. Despite being unable to see his face, she still saw his arms that were wrapped around her. They were tan with blonde hairs, there wasn't a single scar or blemish anywhere that she could see.

"Oh man, that was unpleasant," a new voice whined to her right. She didn't dare look, or else risk accidently discovering Chat's identity. "Don't you know that cat's and water don't get along?"

"Shut up already, Plagg. Just grab the cheese from my shirt pocket and eat. We're not done yet." She heard Chat say behind her, sounding annoyed and a little tired. She felt movement at her back and quickly realized that the cat kwami must have gotten the cheese from his pocket before floating off to eat it.

She would admit that she was curious. This was the first time one of them had lost their transformation while the other was still present. It would be so easy to simply turn her head and find out who her partner was, he wouldn't even be mad since he had offered. Her thoughts came to a halt when Chat's head fell forward until it rested against her shoulder.

"You can't ever scare me like that again, Milady."

Her breath caught in her throat when she heard him. It wasn't what he said, but his voice. He sounded extremely choked up, and could she feel something warm on her shoulder? His body shook behind her and she didn't have to look to know that he must have been crying. Chat Noir had never cried around her, it was surprising and showed her just how much the incident had affected him. "I'm sorry, kitty."

"You... you weren't moving or breathing when I got you out of the water. I've never been so scared, I'm pretty sure you cost me one of my nine lives." His arms held her tighter.

Wanting to comfort him, her hand reached up to take one of his. He gripped her hand so tight that it almost hurt, but she didn't complain. "I'm right here, kitty."

"What if I hadn't gotten to you in time? What if Alya hadn't been there to help get me loose so I could get to you?" The hand that was holding hers shook even harder. "What if I hadn't been able to save you?"

"But you did." Listening to his voice, she was close to crying again, but she couldn't. She had to be strong for him so he could let everything out. "You saved me, Chat. I'm here and alive because you got me out of the water and... did CPR on me?" Why hadn't she realized until that moment that he had probably done that to get her breathing again?

A watery chuckle bubbled out of him as he gave her waist another squeeze. "Yeah, I did. Wasn't exactly how I pictured our first kiss. But better that than never having the chance for a second one."

Her cheeks became warm as she struggled to form the right words. "Well, that um... wasn't, I guess you could say... that was our second."

Despite his emotional state, Adrien raised his head from her shoulder and stared at her profile in shock. "Second? How was that our second kiss? I think I'd remember-"

"You do, but you don't," Ladybug interrupted, a blush coloring her checks beneath her mask. "That whole thing with Dark Cupid when you got controlled, I... well, I kissed you then. It was the only thing I could think of to break the spell on you."

They were quiet for a long time as Adrien stared at the back of her head in shock before his forehead fell to her shoulder again. "Well, damn. I don't remember our first kiss and you weren't conscious for our second kiss. Our track record is kind of a _cat_ -tastrophy, Bugaboo." That made her giggle. He was right, even though she had never really had those kid of feelings for him before, it would have been better if they could at least remember the times they kissed. It was kind of disappointing. Making up her mind quickly, she closed her eyes as she turned her body in his arms.

"Milady, wha-" His words trailed off as she lifted her free hand so her fingers rested against his cheek. Her index finger trailed across his skin until it reached the corner of his mouth. She felt his body shutter when her finger trailed along his lower lip along with a puff of air against her gloved hand. Using it as a guild, she lifted her chin so that her lips easily met his.

She would have been lying if she said that she hadn't thought about kissing Chat once or twice since the incident with Dark Cupid. His lips had been surprisingly soft yet firm against her own, she seemed to be even more aware of it this time as his mouth moved against hers. His arms hugged her to his muscular chest, making her body shiver from the contact. The kiss was sweet, yet wanting and timid all at once. Just as she had always imagined her first kiss would be like. It was surprising just how affectionate his kiss was... and how much it was affecting her this time.

Ladybug had never been more tempted to know Chat Noir's identity then she was at that moment. He was there, she was in his arms, kissing him, and gods was she enjoying it. All she had to do was open her eyes and she would know him as more than just her partner. Would that change anything? Most definitely. Did it really matter anymore? She still loved Adrien with all her heart, but it was difficult to compare the two when Chat was kissing her so skillfully and it was difficult for her to even hold Adrien's hand without making a fool of herself.

Her muddled thoughts trailed off as they separated for air and he rested his forehead against hers. She didn't see it, but he could tell he was smiling at her. Not smirking or grinning, but smiling. "Thank you."

Whatever resolve she had left to keep from opening her eyes broke down when she heard those words. No puns, no flirting or flowery confessions. Just true, heartfelt words that were brimming with so much emotion that it made her heart ache. Her eyes slowly opened to meet Chat's expressive green ones. The feline-like slits were gone, yet they seemed just as familiar to her. It took her leaning back a few inches for recognition to strike her and leave her completely stunned. "Adrien!"

"I never expected you to actually look, Bugaboo. But I'm glad that you did." He smiled at her, although he was lacking a bit of his usual Chat Noir confidence because of how she was looking at him.

How was it possible that her sweet, hardworking crush was her flirty, joking partner? And how the heck hadn't she figured it all out sooner? Alya had even shown her that picture with Chat Noir's costume drawn over Adrien's. Had she been so deep in denial that she had just refused to see what was right in front of her? They were friends, after all. But then, that meant that Adrien hadn't figured her out either. All of that became irrelevant when her emotions took over and she threw her arms around his neck to hug him with all her strength.

"Hey, are you alright?" She heard the worry in his voice but still returned her hug. Knowing that words would fail her, she nodded her head against his shoulder.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but it was long enough that his kwami had regained his strength and they were ready to go after Nightmare again. After Adrien had transformed into Chat Noir, she cleared her throat and wiped away whatever evidence she could that she had been crying so they could get down to business.

"The akuma is in a medallion around his neck, I saw it when he got close to me." She told him as they looked in the direction of the Louvre.

"Any idea of how we get close enough to him to get ahold of it?" He asked her. After what had happened, he didn't want that guy on the streets any longer. If anything, he wanted to get this done so he could have a long talk with his lady. Hopefully with a few more kisses while he held her.

"Not yet, but I'll think of something when we get there. And I still have my lucky charm, but we'll have to be quick."

"That's fine, but I want to talk with you after this. No way am I going to let you _bug-out_ on me after you got me _feline_ like that." He smirked at her. It made him relax a bit when she rolled her eyes at him, a small comfort that let him know that she really was okay.

 **~oOo~**

The area surrounding the Louvre was a mess of people collapsed on the pavement while screaming, crying, or just passed out from terror. Ladybug and Chat Noir stayed out of sight when they first arrived to try and observe while staying out of range of his mist. They quickly saw that the mist spread in about a 10-meter radius with Nightmare in the center. She also knew that the affects were worse the closer you were to the akuma. Chat also saw that when someone was outside of the radius, they seemed to come out of whatever trance they had been put under. Most people stayed on the ground to try and sort themselves out, the stronger ones either ran or grabbed others before running away.

"Any ideas yet, LB?" Chat asked her. He was itching to get down there and punch the guy in the jaw. Even if it was Hawkmoth's fault that all of this was happening, he still wanted to hit him for almost killing the girl he loved.

Her brow was creased in concentration for a moment before a knowing grin stretched across her lips. "It's sort of like the whole Horrificator incident. If there's nothing to fear, he might lose his power over you so you can get close."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that I'm going to be sitting this one out until the last second while you get close to him?" She continued to grin. "It's time for you to put those acting skills of yours to use, kitty." It didn't take him more than a second to figure out what she meant. Giving her a wink, he jumped down from the roof they had been staked out on while she ducked as low as she could while still being able to see and ready to jump when he gave the signal.

Chat landed a few meters outside of the radius but didn't stand. The landing was purposefully sloppy to draw Nightmare's attention. "Oh, so the cat has arrived. And no bug to accompany him? Whatever could that mean?"

"I'll kill you," Chat muttered, letting his anger and fear from before seep into his being. It wasn't hard, just thinking about her being in his arms and not moving would haunt him for the rest of his life. " _How could you do that to her? Why would you take her away from me?_ "

"Poor little kitty cat," the akuma crooned as he stepped closer to Chat. He could tell as soon as the mist touched him, but it wasn't as strong as before. Chat knew what he was afraid of, but Ladybug was safe and out of the akuma's reach. So long as that was the case, he wasn't really scared of anything else. But he could fake it well enough, he would draw Nightmare in close so he could grab the medallion and crush it, then Ladybug could take care of the rest.

"You must be in such agony without her," he continued to speak as he drew closer to Chat Noir, his cape fluttering behind him. "Do you really want to keep this up? You must realize that fighting me is pointless, you cannot overcome fear since it will always be a part of you."

It took everything Chat had not to smirk as the akuma reached for his ring. The moment he did, Chat's hand shot out and ripped the medallion from his neck and shoving him away with his other hand before Nightmare even realized what had happened. Then he jumped into the air as high as he could. "Now, Ladybug!"

The mist coming off of Nightmare became thicker as it reached for him, making Chat recoil and tremble as it encompassed his foot, but then he felt her arm loop around his waist as his lady was carrying him out of range. Then they were running across the rooftops with the akuma hot on their trail. He wanted to smash the medallion, but he would have to slow down to do it and that wasn't an option. "We could really use a little luck right about now!"

"On it, Lucky Charm!" Her yo-yo went up into the air and a bottle of olive oil fell into her hands.

"Okay... any ideas?" He asked, as they kept pace beside each other.

"A few actually," she grinned as they jumped from one roof to the next. She popped the top off of the bottle and poured the liquid behind them as they ran. A second later, they heard Nightmare holler behind them and a hard thud. Looking back, Chat laughed when he saw the trail in the oil that lead to a chimney, where the akuma had slid into head first and knocked himself out cold. Not wanting to waste any more time, or risk the fast akuma getting up again, Chat threw the medallion down and stomped on it as hard as he could, releasing the purple butterfly.

Ladybug caught it easily enough with her yo-yo before releasing the pure white butterfly into the air and casting Miraculous Ladybugs to put Paris right again. Nightmare was replaced by a young boy, no older than seven-years-old, and was shaking with fear. "Wha- where am I? Where's my mom?" Tears quickly formed in the boy's eyes as he drew into himself.

Chat's previous anger was replaced by sympathy for the child. Walking over, he knelt down in front of him and smiled. "You okay? My name's Chat Noir and this is Ladybug. What's your name?"

"I'm *sniffle* Carlo." The boy said as he rubbed his eyes with his fists.

"Do you know where you live, Carlo?" Ladybug smiled as she knelt down beside her partner. "If you tell us, we'll take you back home to your mom right now." The boy nodded and rattled off an address that was right down the street from Nino's apartment building. She picked the boy up in her arms while using her yo-yo to swing them down to the street. Chat stayed close to keep an eye on the pair.

She never ceased to amaze him. The boy had nearly killed her while he was akumatized, yet she was acting so motherly to him. He knew that she only had a few minutes left before her transformation ran out, but she was taking her time to take the boy home without scaring him. Infact, Carlo was smiling as he rode piggy-back until he pointed to an apartment. There was a crowd of people outside that looked up when they saw the three of them approaching. One woman broke away from the crowd and ran in their direction as Ladybug slowly lowered Carlo off her back. The boy ran towards the woman with Ladybug and Chat following right after.

"Carlo!" She cried as she scooped the boy into her arms and hugged him. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? I was so scared when I couldn't find you."

"He'll be okay," Ladybug smiled as she affectionately patted the boy's head.

"Thank you both so much."

Chat noticed her earrings beep to their last spot, she only had a minute left. "I do hate to cut things short, but we have to get back. You take care Carlo, and remember that it's okay to be afraid. It's what you do with that fear that matters." Looping an arm around Ladybug's waist, he extended his baton to vault them to the roof of Nino's apartment building and then to the side yard where no one could see them. He let go of her waist, fully intending to turn away and go somewhere else so she could transform in private, but she held on. "Milady?"

"I still can't believe it's you, Adrien." She said, her eyes squeezed shut as she pressed her cheek against his chest.

"You know me, don't you? As a civilian."

She nodded, without moving away. "It might be stupid to say this now, but I'm scared."

Chat felt her body tremble against his as he wrapped his arms around her. He should leave, there were only seconds left, but it was impossible to pull himself away when she was so vulnerable and hugging him like that. "It's alright, milady. You don't have to show me now. And when the time comes that you want to, I know it'll be _purr_ -fect."

"You and your stupid cat puns," she chuckled against his chest. "I hate them and love them at the same time, if that makes any sense. And it's not that I'm scared of you finding out now, I'm scared of you being disappointed in who I really am. If you see me, I'll lose you twice and I won't be able to survive that."

"You won't lose-"

"I love you!" The words burst out of her, taking him by surprise as she kept speaking. "I trust you and depend on you more than anyone because you are my kitty. I fell for the kindness and smile of Adrien. I just, I love you!"

Her miraculous beeped a final time before there was a flash of pink light, leaving Marinette in Chat's arms. He stared at her in awe as she gripped the leather of his suit, as though she was scared that he would push her away if she let him go. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a little red kwami with black spots floating tiredly next to her. Letting his own transformation fall, it was a relief to finally be able to hold her in his arms and really feel the warmth of her skin. How long had he dreamed of this?

Before he could say anything, they heard Alya and Nino calling for them and he felt Marinette tense in his arms. "Just stay put, I've got an idea." He whispered to her before calling out to their friends. Plagg and Tikki both flew into Adrien's shirt pocket to hide as they came running around the corner and froze when they saw Marinette in Adrien's arms and looking like she had been crying.

Alya automatically went into protective mode when she saw her best friend's tear streaked face. "What happened to her?"

"That akuma hit her really hard with his power when he left. He saw her and..." Adrien purposefully trailed off and shook his head. "I don't know what he did, but it was bad."

Alya nodded in understanding before whispering something to Nino. He ran back to the pool area and came back a moment later with Marinette and Adrien's things. "Would you mind taking her home? I'm going to help Nino clean everything up back here and I don't think it's a good idea to leave her alone right now."

"Agreed, thanks for bringing our stuff." Adrien said as he used his free arm to take their bags from Nino. "We'll call you guys later."

Once they were out of sight, he released her from his arms but took her hand in his.

 **A/N: Here's the first half of the two-shot! Believe it or not, but I wasn't interested in this series until I saw some stuff about it on Pintrest. Gave it a chance and watched it on Netflix, ended up binge-watching it and now I can't wait for the second season to come out.**

 **Anyway, I know that the first chapter might have been a little heavy at some points, but the next chapter will be a bit fluffier. So, Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

***If I owned Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, there would have been a lot more kissing by now, but I don't so I can't.**

Marinette's parents were surprised to see her back so soon since they hadn't expected her home until that night. When they saw Adrien with her, they became all smiles towards him while their eyes asked their daughter all the questions. She stuttered through explaining how they got caught up in an akuma attack as she grabbed a tray and filled it with an assortment of goodies to take up to her room. Mostly croissants and quiche for herself and Adrien, but she made sure to grab cookies for Tikki and a few cheese pastries for his kwami too. Her parents were worried about her when they heard about the akuma, but seemed to relax when Adrien told them that that he would take care of her.

On the way upstairs, Marinette handed off the tray of food to Adrien so she could grab a couple glasses of milk from the kitchen before heading up to her room. When they arrived, she realized all too late that she didn't have a chance to take down the pictures of Adrien that were scattered over the walls of her room. Her face burned with embarrassment when she heard him chuckle.

"I've already seen them, remember? Or should I say that 'Chat Noir' has seen them." He smiled at her as he set the tray on her desk, which made her even more embarrassed. "Don't worry about it, the ones you have are probably some of my father's best designs that I've modeled. Besides," he rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly acting a bit shy himself. "I have my own area in my room dedicated to Ladybug figures, along with a couple of posters."

That made her giggle even though she was still blushing, and Adrien thought it was the cutest thing in the world. He could admit that he'd had a thing for Marinette for a while, but hadn't made a move because of his feelings for Ladybug. He hadn't considered it fair to try dating Marinette if he couldn't give her all of his heart, but now that wasn't an issue. The girl standing across from him was everything he could ever want. The bravery, cleverness, and sass of Ladybug coupled with the cuteness, creativity, and caring of Marinette all rolled into one incredible person. And for some reason beyond his comprehension, she loved him.

Unable to help himself, Adrien crossed the room to hug her again. It felt so right to have her in his arms and it was all the better when she seemed to melt and form right to him.

"Blugh, can't you two hold off on all that lovey stuff until I'm gone?"

Adrien groaned with annoyance as Plagg and Tikki flew out of his pocket, he had almost forgotten that they were there.

"Oh, come on Plagg! You couldn't have given them five more minutes. Things were just about to get good!" Tikki whined as she floated next to the cat kwami.

"Give me a break." He scoffed. "I deal with the kid's romantic crap every day. Having to listen to it now that they're together makes me sick."

Adrien was about to snap at him when Marinette giggled. There was a glint in her eyes that reminded him of the times when she came up with a clever idea. "Oh well," she shrugged, "if us being like this makes you sick, then I'll just take these cheese pastries back downstairs."

Stifling his laughter, he watched as Plagg's eyes went comically wide as his head whipped around to stare at Marinette. "Cheese pastries? Such a thing exists?"

"Uh-huh," she said absently as she picked a cookie up from the tray and handed it to her kwami. "Le Parisien actually named my dad's pastries as the best in all of Paris and specifically mentioned the four different types of cheese pastries he makes. Buuuut," she drawled as she picked up the tray, "since you say that us being affectionate around you makes you sick, I'll just take these back so they won't go to waste."

"I was just kidding!" Plagg flew in front of her to block her path before she could take a single step toward her trap door. "Seeing you two crazy kids finally come together warms my heart! It's so sweet, stirs my soul! Even makes me hungry!"

She giggled, placing the tray back down and offering the cat kwami one of the cheese pastries. "You just remember that if Adrien and I decide to get close again."

Plagg quickly snatched the pastry from her hand and ate half of it in one bite. He got a starry-eyed expression on his furry face before turning to give Adrien a serious look. "This Ladybug is a real keeper. Don't screw it up, kid" He and Marinette laughed while Tikki shook her head as he finished the pastry and dove at the tray to get the others.

With the kwami's thoroughly distracted with baked goods, the teenagers turned their attention back to each other with Adrien taking her hand and leading them to her chaste. He sat down and pulled her down to sit in front of him with his arms wrapped around her, much like they had been on the roof. Knowing that it was Adrien made her a little nervous, but then he rubbed his cheek against her hair in a very Chat-like manner and she relaxed in his arms.

"Say it again." He whispered against her ear.

Marinette smiled. "I love you."

"Again." His arms hugged her tighter.

"I love you, kitty." She squeezed his hands in hers.

She swore she heard him purr as he pulled her body against his chest and kissed her neck just below her ear. "I love you too, _Purr_ -incess. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Surprised by his sudden question, she turned her head to look at him and he pressed his lips to hers for a quick kiss. Marinette's cheeks turned pink as a broad smile stretched across her face. "Girlfriend be your I'll. I mean, your be I'll girlfriend! Ugh! _I'll be your girlfriend!_ "

Adrien couldn't help but laugh as she tried to put those four works in the right order, it was absolutely adorable. Marinette gave him a scowl but he quickly made it up to her catching her lips in another searing kiss. Surprising her, her lips parted with a quiet gasp. He cautiously licked her lower lip to see if she would accept his advances and was thrilled when she did. Adrien moaned at her sweet taste as one hand splayed across her back and the other gripped her hair, pulling it out of her signature pigtails. She was shy as she kissed him back and it made her even cuter in his eyes.

They eventually trailed off into light pecks on the lips before he kissed her cheeks, eyes lids, the tip of her nose, and then trailed his lips to her neck. He was so tempted to mark her, but thought it was too soon. Maybe after their first official date. For the moment, he was just thrilled to have her in his arms while they really got to know each other.

The two of them talked for a good, long while about everything that they hadn't been able to talk to anyone about except for Plagg and Tikki. It was a relief to finally be able to get certain things off of their chests that they couldn't tell anyone else, or that no one would be able to understand. As they talked, Adrien would steal little kisses here and there, making Marinette blush and smile as they were quickly becoming addicted to each other's lips.

When Adrien's stomach gave a needy growl, she reached over to the tray of food to hand him a quiche while she grabbed a croissant. That sparked a new conversation about the foods his father didn't allow him to eat and the pressures he was put under because of his name. Their talk continued until the food was gone, their phones had multiple messages from Alya and Nino, and her parents had sneaked a couple of peeks into her room.

Eventually, Marinette looked at her phone and saw that one of the messages Alya had sent was a link to the Ladyblog that covered the attack from that day. Neither one of them wanted to see it, but they still looked to see what she had recorded and posted. The video caught the attack with Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting the akuma. Then she was pushed into the pool and the camera was discarded for a moment, probably when she had been helping untangle Chat. When the camera moved again, it showed Chat beating desperately against the barrier over the pool and screaming her name before using Cataclysm and dropping into the water. The camera cut out just after Chat surfaced with an unresponsive Ladybug in his arms, then it came back focused on Alya.

 _"Hey peeps, Alya here with another update on the latest attack. As you saw, Ladybug and Chat Noir were attacked by Nightmare, but I am relieved to inform you that they are both safe. I probably could have recorded what happened after Chat Noir got Ladybug out of the pool, but even as a dedicated journalist, I made a judgement call and decided that it would have been in bad taste to do that to two heroes that have done so much for Paris and me, personally."_

"You know, I was thinking while we were on that roof that we owe Alya an exclusive for what she did for us today, this just confirmed it." Adrien said quietly as he continued to hold her, his cheek pressed against her temple as they watched the screen.

"Agreed." Marinette had been looking away any time she'd thought she might see herself in the water, but there were a few things she had noticed that she hadn't before. Like the frantic look on Chat's face when she went into the pool and how desperately he had beaten against the barrier that kept them apart. All she remembered was looking up, seeing a blob of black above her and hearing a distorted, panicked voice just before she lost consciousness. It broke her heart to see him so scared. Taking his hand in hers again, she cuddled close to him, gaining his attention.

"You alright, bugaboo?" He gave her hand a squeeze.

"I'm so sorry that I scared you, kitty." She closed her eyes to keep back the tears. "I didn't realize just how scared you were until I saw the video. I swear I'll try not to do that again."

She felt him press his lips to her temple while he hugged her. "I know you won't, because I'm not going to let you get in that situation again. First, I'm going to do a better job as your protector. Second, I'm going to teach you how to swim so something like that won't happen again." He felt a shiver rush through her body at the thought of getting gin the water again, but he just hugged her tighter. "I'll be with you the whole time, you know I'll keep you safe."

Hesitantly, she nodded. Deciding that was the best time to change the subject, they started planning on how they would surprise Alya.

 **oOo**

Alya was on her way to Marinette's house the following day just as the sun was starting to set. She called her, saying that a lot had happened and she wanted to give her all the details in person. She was about half way there when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red and turned quickly to see if it was her favorite superhero. A second later, someone tapped her shoulder from behind. She squealed in surprise at first from someone sneaking up on her, then she was squealing because Ladybug and Chat Noir were standing there and smiling at her.

"How you doing, Ladyblogger?" Chair grinned, giving her a two-finger salute.

"I'm fantastic! You two mind if I record this?" She was already getting out her phone.

Ladybug giggled at her. "That's actually why we're here. Without you're help yesterday, I might have died. So, we decided to give you an exclusive interview with the two of us as a thank you." The two heroes could see their friend was practically vibrating with excitement as she finally got her phone ready.

"But, this isn't the best setting." Chat grinned as he took a step closer to Alya. "So, we're taking this interview to a better venue."

Before Alya could figure out what he meant, Chat had looped an arm around her waist and had used his baton to raise them into the air. Her breath caught in her throat as she quickly began to record while keeping a death-grip on her phone. She'd never forgive herself if she dropped it and lost any of this footage. The next thing she knew, the three of them were flying over the rooftops of Paris. Alya changed hands with Chat Noir and Ladybug more than once, but she was never scared that she would be dropped. They always made sure that the other had a firm hold before letting her go. She knew that they were making it a whole experience for her.

When they finally came to a stop, they were on the top of the Eiffel Tower with the most amazing view of the city as the sun sank closer to the horizon and making a golden sky. She was out of breath and her heart was pounding, but she couldn't be happier as she turned the camera on herself. "Hey peeps, Alya here from the top of the Eiffel Tower with what must be the biggest scoop since the creation of the Ladyblog! Ladybug and Chat Noir, literally, just picked me up and took me vaulting and swinging through the air! I've been snatched up while in danger before, but I've got to tell you, this was a completely different experience."

The two heroes laughed as Alya switched the camera to them. They were sitting on the edge with their legs hanging off, like they didn't have a care in the world. "We thought you might like to know what it's like for us." Ladybug smiled at her before sweeping out one arm. "This spot right here, this is the best spot in the city to keep an eye out. Chat and I end up here a lot when we're doing our patrols, which makes it the perfect place for an exclusive."

"Absolutely! The only question is, where to start?" Alya gushed a bit. Normally, she was able to keep her cool. She had tons of questions memorized in case she ever had a chance like this, but her excitement made it hard to focus.

"I'll start," Chat said, giving her a warm smile. "We want to thank you, Alya. If you hadn't helped untangle me from milady's yo-yo, I don't know if I could have gotten to her in time."

"I'm just glad I was able to move," she admitted, suppressing a shudder. "For those of you who weren't affected by Nightmare's abilities, be grateful. It was like reliving every nightmare you've ever had while walking through the scariest haunted house on Halloween, and during a full moon. Not an experience I'm looking to repeat, ever. Anyway, let's move on to the two of you. Tons of people on the Ladyblog were surprised by your fear, Ladybug. Do you feel comfortable telling us where that came from?"

"I don't know how much I can tell you," she shrugged. "I just never really learned how to swim when I was younger, and then I made the mistake of watching _Jaws_ and it turned into a full-on fear. Since then, I never really got in water that was more than waist deep and couldn't see the bottom. It was never an issue until yesterday."

"And we'll be working on fixing that very soon," Chat promised, taking her hand in his. Alya noticed, but decided not want to mention it yet since she had a few more questions before _that one_.

"Chat Noir, a lot of people commented that they could really see how scared you looked; first, when you couldn't get to her, and again when you both surfaced from the water. Many said that they were surprised that you didn't lose your cool. What was going through your mind then?"

He took a deep breath as his gloved hand squeezed Ladybug's. "Mostly going back and forth from denial at what was happening and trying to focus on getting her breathing. I won't lie, I almost did lose it a couple of times after she went into the water. But when she took that first breath, it brought me back too."

"I can only imagine." Alya nodded in understanding. "I mean, for the people of Paris, it would have been an impossibly hard blow, but it's different for the two of you. You work together in some of the most dangerous situations ever seen in our generation in Paris. The fact that the two of you work so well together speaks greatly about your partnership. What do you think it is that makes your partnership so solid?"

"Well, having the _purrfect_ partner doesn't hurt," Chat grinned while Ladybug rolled her eyes. "But I'd say the one thing it really boils down to is trust. I know that any time there's a fight that I can count on my lady to see what I can't and get things to work out in our favor. You've seen some of the Lucky Charms she gets, I'd never be able to figure out what to do with them, but she always does."

"And I trust my kitty to be there to watch my back and give me perspective with people since it can be hard for me to let others in," Ladybug smiled. "Sometimes, I think people focus a little too much on me since it's my ability that can cleanse the akumas and restore everything to the way it was. I don't think Chat gets the attention he deserves; he's saved me more times than I can count to make sure that I _can_ put things back in place. Although, if he were to get a lot of attention, his head might get too big for his ears." They both chuckled as Chat Noir faked indignation while Ladybug flicked his bell with her finger.

It was so adorable that Alya nearly lost it, but covered her fan-girl moment with a big smile. "Very true, I've personally seen him step into harm's way multiple times to keep you safe. Which makes me and a lot of my bloggers wonder, have you ever gotten angry at the people that have been akumatized?"

"No way."

"Never."

They answered at the same time.

"Hawkmoth is the one to blame, not his victims." Chat said, vehemently.

"The only thing that any of the people who have been akumatized are guilty of is being human." Ladybug agreed. "We all have bad days and things that go wrong because life isn't perfect. He takes advantage of these people, which makes them victims too. Chat and I have never seen those people as akuma, only as akuma victims because that is what they are."

Alya felt a little choked up at that. "Well, as someone who was akumatized in the past, and speaking for all those that have been akumatized, thank you. It's good to know that you don't see us as evil people or anything like that."

"We'd never do something like that," Chat smiled kindly. "To us, all of Paris is our home and we see the people that live here as an extremely extended family. We might not see everyone that often and names might escape us sometimes, but we promise to always step up to do what we can to keep everyone safe."

"One more question," Alya grinned at the pair, it was time for the big one. "As I'm sure the two of you know, LadyNoir has become the ultimate ship all over Paris. People have been clamoring to find out if the two of you really are a couple, or if the flirting is all for show and you two are just good friends. And I've been watching you two since the start of this interview, and I've noticed that you're a bit closer than before. So, I've got to ask, has LadyNoir gone canon?"

She watched with barely kept excitement as Chat Noir smirked and Ladybug's cheeks turned pink as they squeezed each other hands. That was enough for herself, but she wanted a definitive answer for her blog.

"Well," Chat continued to grin, "I've never hidden my affections for my lady. I got bitten the lovebug the first time we fought together and I've fallen even harder since then."

Alya watched with baited breath as she waited for Ladybug to answer. "It wasn't the same for me," the heroine smiled nervously.

" _Meowch_ _,_ milady," Chat smirked as he placed his free hand over his heart, gaining a chuckle from Alya.

"I was sure that this kitty flirted with every girl he saw when I wasn't around, and that he was only joking when he did it with me. But eventually, I noticed things that don't come with being a hero, just being a good person." Her expression grew a little sad as she blushed. "Then yesterday, after what happened, we talked for a bit while we regained our strength before facing Nightmare again, and things just seemed to click into place for me too."

"So... are you confirming that the two of you are now a couple?" She pushed, if she got this, the following of her blog would quadruple over night!

Chat and Ladybug exchanged a knowing look before turning back to Alya, looking directly into the camera as they spoke. "LadyNoir is canon!"

"You heard it here first! Ladybug and Chat Noir are officially a couple and I, for one, couldn't be happier for them!" Alya announced as her camera focused on their linked hands for a moment before going back up to their smiling, blushing faces. "Before we sign off, is there anything you'd like to say to the people of Paris?"

"Just that we're floored by the acceptance and trust that everyone puts in us," Ladybug smiled brightly, her blush calming a bit.

"We're always im- _purr-_ essed by the support we get from the people, and we swear that we won't stop until the city is finally safe from Hawkmoth." Chat Noir grinned, gaining an eye-roll from Ladybug in the process.

"True words from true heroes. This is Alya, signing off. Later, ladybloggers!" Turning off her phone, Alya did a little happy dance before turning back to the black and red spotted super heroes. "Thank you two so much, you have no idea how much this means to me!"

"I think we can imagine a little bit," Ladybug smiled.

"This was like the whole _kitten-cat-_ _buggle_ to you, huh?"

"Really, Chat? That one was a bit of a stretch." She huffed, although her partner/boyfriend kept grinning as he winked at her. Shaking her head, she stood up and walked over to Alya. "Alright, it's time to get you back, you looked like you were on your way somewhere and we'd hate to keep you any longer."

"Are you kidding? My girl, Marinette, will totally be cool with what just happened!" She gushed, missing the knowing smile from the heroine that time.

The trip back was just as exciting as the trip there with Alya being passed from hero to hero, her phone recording the entire thing as they went. Chat Noir and Ladybug were laughing and enjoying themselves almost as much as she was, and that made things all the better for her. She was disappointed when they finally got to the spot where they had picked her up, she didn't want the ride to end. Giving her a wave, the two vaulted/swung up to the rooftops and were gone.

She was still buzzing with excitement as she saved the footage to her cloud before running the rest of the way to Marinette's house. Rushing up the stairs she gave quick greetings to Tom and Sabine before bursting into Marinette's room. "Girl, you missed the most ama-" Her words came up short when she saw Marinette sitting on her chaise, snuggled up with Adrien, while they shared a pretty serious kiss! The two quickly broke their kiss but didn't move away from each other, looking surprised.

Her eyes switched back and forth between the two for a few seconds as their faces turned bright red. "Wha- when- Holy crap! This is beyond the best day ever!" Alya cheered as she finished ascending the steps into the room.

"Hi, Alya," Adrien gave her a weak wave, although he didn't move away from Marinette.

"Sooo... Are you two official now?" She winked at the two, causing them to blush even worse but they still nodded. "Yes! It's about time, you too! Paris, the city of love, indeed!"

The future journalist continued to gush and talk while Marinette and Adrien shared a secret smile between the two of them. They had gotten back to Marinette's room, changed back, and collapsed on her chaste moments before Alya had gotten there. Adrien hadn't been able to help himself and kissed his new girlfriend due to a mix of adrenaline and wanting to show off to their friend.

Within five minutes, Alya had texted Nino and most of their class to let them know that Adrienette was official and that she would be collecting on some bets in class on Monday. The two of them knew that they were going to be grilled even more seriously than they had been on top of the Eiffel Tower, but they were fine with that. They wanted everyone to know that they were together, and would be for a very long time.

 **A/N: This whole thing came out a lot faster and better than I expected. I'm usually an anime girl, so watching this cartoon from France was a bit of a stretch for me. But after watching the first couple episodes, I was hooked and I'm thoroughly enjoying the new season unfold before me (yes, I have been watching on YouTube as the episodes come out). Hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Warm-** **Fuzzies** **and please review!**


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